The last night they slept well was long time ago. They were unaware that the Noxian army was preparing for the invasion. No one expected it. They attacked quickly and at night, in silence. By the time Damien woke up, everything around him was nothing but fire and smoke, with the bitter smell of blood and death all around him. He left his parents' house in despair. That couldn't be happening, it couldn't be real. Hundreds of soldiers in metal armor fought the defenseless farmers and ranchers indiscriminately, slaughtering anyone who crossed their path of destruction.
Damien was paralyzed by that scene, unable to do anything to stop them. However, one thought shook his head: "Iraki". He ran to her house, afraid of finding her hurt or something even worse. He arrived at her house without being discovered, moving from shadow to shadow. The house was on fire, like all the others in the village, but he didn't care. He opened the door, ignoring the searing pain of the fire burning his skin, desperate to find his lover .
"Iraki! Where are you?" He shouted, feeling the smoke enter his lungs, making him cough as he searched through the rubble. His irritated eyes wouldn't stop crying from the smoke, while the suffocating heat made him sweat endlessly. He didn't care about all that, he had to find her. He had to find her, no matter what.
Having finished the council, the four members approached the Whisper, while Irelia patted him on the back, smiling warmly. Days passed while they were explaining to him about the culture of Shurima and the Darkin. Unfortunately, they didn't know the exact location of the weapon, only that it was near Nezimareth, the first capital of the Shurima Empire. There seemed to be a lot of powerful magical activity there, so tracking the weapon was very complicated and risky for the Ionian scout.
As for the Darkin weapon, they knew it was a sword, but didn't know nothing about the Darkin themselves, as Rhaast, Kayn's scythe, refused to collaborate and Varus' Darkin personality was suppressed. About for the Shuriman stuff, they told Damien about Shurima's rising by the Emperor's hand and the possibility of a civil war between Xerath and Azir for the control of the rebuilt Empire. Legends about Nasus and Renekton were also told to him, but they didn't know where the two Ascendants would be.
The trip would take about half a month by boat tor each the coast, and half a month more to go into the desert to meet the contact. Their hope was that the mission would take about three months, so Damien would have little time to make the mission a success, given the heavy military pressure from the Noxian invasion. Estimates were that in about three months the resistance of the Ionians would be too weak to stop the Noxians and they would lose the war.
It took them a week to prepare the mission. Damien took advantage of that time to inform and recruit Kai for the trip, as he was an excellent navigator. He also asked for permission to go to the rear, to visit Iraki before leaving. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to, but he was able to write her a letter. It took him three days before he found the words to express how much he loved her, and that his promise still stood. Obviously, he couldn't give her details of the mission as it was a secret, but he could tell her he was going away from Ionia for a while.
The entire council went to the south coast of Ionia to watch the boat go. The boat was small, with only one sail and similar in appearance to a small local fishing boat, although its hold was larger since it carried provisions for two weeks for two people. It also had instruction in case they encountered part of the Noxian fleet, where it explained how to act like Ionian traitors who were abandoning their homeland as they were being pursued by the resistance. However, they hoped that they could go unnoticed by the Noxians as they went all the way down to Shurima.
On the night of departure, as Damien approached the wharf, he noticed that Kai was already on the boat, discussing the details with someone else. They had arranged to leave at night, so the only light was that of the moon and a torch held by Kai in one hand. Four people, the council members, were on the dock, waiting impatiently for him. "sleeping again, Ionian Sleeper?" said Irelia with a little smile.
"Sorry, sorry." Damien replied smiling "You see, I've been busy preparing some things. You never know when you can need some stuff". He was carrying a large white bag, with clothes for his sea journey and some more for travelling in the Shurima desert. He wore a light vest over a kind of thin light brown cloth shirt, along with some tight blue pants. Above his head, a circular hat would block the sunlight when they were at sea. A pair of sandals finished his set.
Then, as soon as Damien got on the boat, and after a brief farewell, Kai and him left Ionian lands and went to sea, heading for Shurima. "Pal, i hope we get back soon. I don't like sand, and Shurima is a fucking desert." Kai said, as the lights on the coast grew smaller and smaller as they moved away from the mainland.
"Well, hope you learn to like sand, cause this trip might be quite long, my friend." Damien laughed a bit, as he unpacked his things inside a little room with one bed, but that wasn't a problemas. They planned that only one of them should sleep at a time, while the other watched and controlled the ship. It truly was a small ship, and could sink with a single blow of a cannon.
The first two days passed without any trouble. Damien and Kai managed to navigate thanks to the compass and maps they possessed. Beyond handling the sail or preparing a simple meal, the trip was getting very boring. However, that would change on the third night. Damien had just been relieved of his watch, leaving Kai to sail in the dark, as it was more difficult and he was more experienced. Damien sat on the bed, playing with one of his daggers, flipping it again and again as his mind wandered as he saw the silvery flashes of moonlight reflecting off the metal of the blade.
He was so focused on his thoughts that he did not sense a shadow approaching him from behind. Not until, for a moment, the edge of his knife reflected something red behind him. With a leap forward, he grabbed the edge in mid-air and took up a defensive position, not knowing what he had seen. However, in front of him there was nothing. He tilted his head confused, as he was sure he had seen something or someone on his back. Suddenly, the sound of the air being cut made him react, leaning back just far enough to avoid a knife thrown from his left. He looked there and he saw her, A redheaded woman about to throw another knife at his throat. She smiled when she realized that she had been seen by him, opting then for a close combat, taking out another dagger on her other hand and stepping towards him, fast as lighting.
"Who the fuck are you?" Damien shouted, but as soon as he saw her, she disappeared. A shooting pain ran through his back a moment later. He felt that he was bleeding, but was unable to see his attacker.
He heard a giggle behind him, but as he turned over, another knife cut over his back, making him kneel in pain. "Is she using some kind of magic?" He thought, just as another dagger cut him on his right leg. He calmed himself, he knew panicking wouldn't be the solution, but he couldn't think of anything else. Where was Kai? Did she murdered him? He shook that thought from his head. His brother-in-arms couldn't be dead, not against an assassin like her. He had to focus on his current problem. He noticed that she had way more daggers than him, but the position of them was strange, as if they were located there with a purpose. He released then, "She's dashing to the daggers, that's why she threw that one before cutting me for the first time!" but it was to late for him.
The assassin appeared behind him, stabbing him in his stomach. A new kind of pain shook his body, it was hurting from inside, not from outside. No voice came out of his mouth, as he watched his clothes slowly turning red around the knife. As blood poured from the injury, she laughed a little bit, enjoying the game she was playing. She smirked at him as she retrieved the blade from his insides, holding his head from his hair with one hand, forcing him to look her in the eye. "The name's Katarina." she dropped him. Damien cried of pain as he hit the floor. Her name, though, rang a bell inside his head. She was a Noxian assassin, Katarina du Couteau, The Sinister Blade.
To be continued...